Systems and methods for detecting satellite-based communication interference

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for detecting and reducing signal interference affecting wireless communication with a mobile vehicle includes generating an interference signature based on a correlation multiple signal-quality characteristics of a desired target-signal that is received at an antenna assembly attached to the mobile vehicle, and adjusting the orientation of the antenna assembly based on a change or degradation in the interference signature to thereby improve wireless communication with the vehicle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/804,647, filed Feb. 28, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/263,814, filed Jan. 31, 2019 and issued as U.S.Pat. No. 10,608,760, which claims the priority benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/656,698, filed Apr. 12, 2018; and theentire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The following disclosure relates to systems and methods for detectingand reducing interference in wireless communication with a mobilevehicle.

BACKGROUND

A vehicle travelling over land, on sea, or through the air often engagesin bidirectional communication within a communication network, which mayinclude a satellite or a ground-to-air sub-network, to transmit andreceive travel information, media content, or other data. For example,an aircraft may transmit and/or receive a communication signal via anantenna assembly mounted to the aircraft. Such satellite-basedcommunication or connectivity is susceptible to signal interferenceassociated with undesired signals from other sources, such as,satellites near or within a communication environment encompassing thesource of the desired communication signal and/or at least a portion ofthe desired communication signal. This problem is particularly acute inantennas with very small aperture terminals (VSATs) where thetransmitted beam-sizes are large and off-axis rejection is sometimesinadequate. It is therefore important to determine the occurrence and/oreffect of signal interference within the communication environment andmitigate the associated adverse effects of the signal interference onthe desired communication signal.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form, with the concepts further described in the detaileddescription. This summary is not intended to identify key aspects oressential features or embodiments of the claimed subject matter, nor isit intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

One embodiment is directed to method of reducing degradation of wirelesscommunication with a mobile vehicle, wherein the method comprises:receiving, via an antenna assembly including a preferred orientation andcoupled to the mobile vehicle, a wireless target-signal; attaining, viaone or more processors coupled to antenna assembly, a first type ofsignal-quality characteristic of the received wireless target-signal,the first type of signal-quality characteristic being indicative of asignal quality; attaining, via the one or more processors, a second typeof signal-quality characteristic of the received wireless target-signal,the second type of signal-quality characteristic being indicative of asignal quality, wherein the first and second types of signal-qualitycharacteristics are different types of signal-quality characteristicsand each having a different functional dependence on a combination ofsignal and noise associated with the received wireless target-signal;generating, via the one or more processors, an interference signatureassociated with the received wireless target-signal and the preferredorientation of the antenna assembly, the interference signatureincluding a correlation of the attained first signal-qualitycharacteristic and the second signal-quality characteristic; analyzing,via the one or more processors, the generated interference signature todetermine a change or degradation in the correlation of the first andsecond signal-quality characteristics; and adjusting, via the one ormore processors, the preferred orientation of the antenna assembly toanother orientation based on the analysis of the interference signature,thereby reducing degradation of the wireless target-signal received atthe mobile vehicle.

Another embodiment is directed to a method reducing degradation ofwireless communication with a mobile vehicle, the method comprises:scanning, via an antenna assembly including a preferred orientation andcoupled to the mobile vehicle, the antenna assembly through a pluralityof orientations; receiving, via one or more processors coupled to theantenna assembly, a wireless target-signal at each of the plurality oforientations; attaining, via one or more processors, a first type ofsignal-quality characteristic of the received wireless target-signal ateach of the scanned orientations, the first type of signal-qualitycharacteristic being indicative of a signal quality; attaining, via theone or more processors, a second type of signal-quality characteristicof the received wireless target-signal at each of the scannedorientations, the second type of signal-quality characteristic beingindicative of a signal quality, wherein the first and second types ofsignal-quality characteristics are different types of signal-qualitycharacteristics and each having a different functional dependence on acombination of signal and noise associated with the received wirelesstarget-signal; generating, via the one or more processors, aninterference signature associated with the received wirelesstarget-signal for each of the scanned orientations of the antennaassembly, each interference signature including a correlation of theattained first signal-quality characteristic and the secondsignal-quality characteristic; analyzing, via the one or moreprocessors, the generated interference signature of each scannedorientation of the antenna assembly to determine a change or degradationin the correlation of the interference signature; and adjusting, via theone or more processors, the preferred orientation of the antennaassembly to another orientation based on the analysis of theinterference signatures, thereby reducing degradation of the wirelesstarget-signal received at the mobile vehicle.

A further embodiment is directed to a system of reducing degradation ofwireless communication with a mobile vehicle, the system comprises: oneor more processors coupled to the mobile vehicle; a memory coupled tothe one or more processors; an antenna assembly coupled to the one ormore processors and attached to the mobile vehicle, the antenna assemblyincluding a preferred orientation, a receive (RX) aperture, and atransmit (TX) aperture; and a set of instructions stored on the memory,which when executed by the one or more processors; causes the system to:scan the antenna assembly through at least one of orientation of theantenna assembly; receive a wireless target-signal at each of thescanned orientations of the antenna assembly; attain a first type ofsignal-quality characteristic of the received wireless target-signal ateach of the scanned orientations, the first type of signal-qualitycharacteristic being indicative of a signal quality; attain a secondtype of signal-quality characteristic of the received wirelesstarget-signal at each of the scanned orientations, the second type ofsignal-quality characteristic being indicative of a signal quality,wherein the first and second types of signal-quality characteristics aredifferent types of signal-quality characteristics and each having adifferent functional dependence on a combination of signal and noiseassociated with the received wireless target-signal; generate aninterference signature associated with the received wirelesstarget-signal for at least one of the scanned orientations of theantenna assembly, each interference signature including a correlation ofthe attained first signal-quality characteristic and the secondsignal-quality characteristic; analyze the generated interferencesignature for at least one of the scanned orientation of the antennaassembly to determine a change or degradation in the correlation of theinterference signature; and adjust the preferred orientation of theantenna assembly to another orientation based on the analysis of theinterference signatures, thereby reducing degradation of the wirelesstarget-signal received at the mobile vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A, 1B; 2A, 2B; 3A, 3B; and 4A, 4B include illustrated examples ofpaired graphs including signal-quality characteristic metrics attained,e.g., received, measured, and/or derived; from a desired target-signalin accordance with one or more of the embodiments described herein;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for reducingdegradation of a wireless communication in accordance with one or moreof the embodiments described herein;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of another example method for reducingdegradation of a wireless communication in accordance with one or moreof the embodiments described herein; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example system for reducingdegradation of a wireless communication in accordance with one or moreof the embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments described herein relate to wireless communications includingconnectivity services to a mobile vehicle, wherein during normaloperation of a communication system, the undesired effect ofinterference on a desired target-signal within a communicationenvironment is identified and accounted for to improve the quality ofthe wireless communications to and/or from the mobile vehicle.

More specifically, a communication system and/or method includesreceiving a wireless target-signal at an antenna assembly (e.g., verysmall aperture terminal (VSAT) antenna) operatively coupled to acommunication controller (e.g., one or more processors, microprocessors)of a mobile vehicle. The desired target-signal is transmitted by atarget-signal-source, e.g., satellite or ground communication center,and is received via the antenna assembly that is oriented, positioned,pointed, or aligned in a particular orientation with respect to thedesired target-signal and/or the target-signal-source. The antennaassembly includes a transmit (TX) aperture and a receive (RX) aperture,wherein the communication controller and the antenna assembly arecapable of cooperating to move or position the orientation of theapertures jointly or independently of each other, with respect to thedesired target-signal and/or the source of the desired target-signal.

The communication signal received at the receive (RX) aperture of theantenna assembly is a composition of the desired target-signal emanatingfrom the source of the desired target-signal and any undesired signal(s)(i.e., signal interference; e.g., noise), which may typically originatefrom one or more other signal sources (and may also include the sourceof the desired target-signal) within the communication environment. Asignal-quality-metric is used to unambiguously determine and/or identify(e.g., measure, analyze, derive, calculate) an occurrence and/or effect(e.g., severity) of the undesired signal(s) adversely affecting thereception of the desired target-signal at the antenna assembly. Thesignal-quality-metric may include an interference-signature based onmultiple signal-quality characteristics of the target-signal that isindicative of the communication quality. Types of signal-qualitycharacteristics may include, and are not limited to,received-signal-strength (RSS) (e.g., received-signal-strength indicator(RSSI)), which is the sum of the signal and interference, e.g., noisepresent, and therefore may reflect a measure of the total power receivedat a channel of interest; signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which is theratio of the received desired signal to all other undesired power (e.g.,interference, noise) in the channel; signal-plus-noise (S+N);signal-plus-noise-to-noise ratio (S+N)/N; a signal-to-interference-noiseratio (SNIR), and the like.

The interference signature reflects an association or correlation of twoor more signal-quality characteristics of the desired target-signalreceived at the antenna assembly, which may depict a functionaldependence on a combination of the desired target-signal andinterference, e.g., noise, received at one or more orientations of theantenna assembly, e.g., receive (RX) aperture. The correlation of two ormore signal-quality characteristics allows for discerning an unambiguoussignal that can only be brought about because of interference. Forexample, using RSS and SNR for two of the at least two signal-qualitycharacteristics of the interference signature, when no interference ispresent, there is a correlation that when one of these signal-qualitycharacteristics increases, the other signal-quality characteristicincreases. However, when interference is present, there is a detectablechange in the correlation as compared to the correlation when nointerference is present. That is, when interference is present, anincrease in one of these signal-quality characteristics is accompaniedby a decrease in the other signal-quality characteristics. A thresholdlevel for determining or identifying signal interference may be basedon: the correlation of at least two signal-quality characteristics(e.g., the interference signature) associated with a particular antennaorientation (e.g., receive (RX) aperture); a change or degradation inthe correlation of the at least two signal-quality characteristics(e.g., the interference signature) associated with a particular antennaorientation (e.g., receive (RX) aperture); and/or a change ordegradation in the correlation of at least two interference signaturesassociated with the same or different antenna orientation (e.g., receive(RX) aperture).

Identifying or detecting the presence of signal interference isvulnerable to vague and ambiguous determinations if less than twosignal-quality characteristics are utilized. For example, wheninterference is not present and utilizing only received-signal-strength(RSS), positioning the antenna assembly towards the source (e.g.,satellite station) of the desired target-signal will result in a signalwith a high level of power, e.g., RSS; and positioning the antennaassembly away from the source of the desired target signal will resultin a signal with a relatively lower level of power (RSS). However, wheninterference is present, for example, a nearby satellite station that iscomparatively more powerful than the source of the desiredtarget-signal, positioning the orientation of the antenna assembly awayfrom the target-signal (e.g., towards the nearby communication satellitestation) may likely result in a slightly “better” signal because of therelatively higher level of power (RSS) being received at the antennaassembly in comparison to when the antenna assembly was pointed moretowards the target-signal and/or source thereof. It may therefore bedifficult to determine which of these two satellite stations is betteraligned, and in communication, with the antenna assembly.

Known techniques for ensuring and/or confirming the orientation of theantenna assembly implement dead-reckoning procedures to calculate anddetermine any deviation between where the target-satellite should belocated and where the antenna assembly is orientated. Implementing suchtechniques may yield imprecise results due to the changing spatialrelationship (e.g., angular measures) of the moving vehicle and/or thesatellite(s). Another technique changes the orientation of the antennaassembly to search the signal environment for indications of signalinterference. For example, if the received signals illustrate splayedsignal data, as opposed to a concentration of signal data, e.g., pointor dot; signal interference may be present. Simultaneously performingthe calculations associated with these techniques during normaloperation of the antenna assembly may negatively impact the qualitycommunication service provided. Also, these known techniques must beperformed with caution to avoid transmitting too far afield, e.g., intorestricted space, while changing the orientation of the antennaassembly, which may violate regulatory licensing terms, etc. In contrastto these known techniques, embodiments described herein simultaneouslyreceive the desired target-signal and process the at least twosignal-quality characteristics thereof (e.g., interference signature)during the normal course of operation, which provides for an unambiguoussignal that is indicative of interference, whereupon steps can be takento mitigate the adverse effects of the interference.

One embodiment of the antenna assembly of the communication systemincludes two modes of operation—a first mode of operation where theorientation (e.g., position) of the transmit (TX) and receive (RX)apertures are jointly controlled by the controller, that is, theorientations of the transmit (TX) and receive (RX) apertures aresubstantially identical with respect to their alignment with the desiredtarget-signal and/or the source of the desired target-signal; and asecond mode of operation where the orientations of the transmit (TX) andreceive (RX) apertures are separately and independently controlled,i.e., positioned, by the controller. When the antenna assembly isoperating in the first mode, the positions of the transmit (TX) andreceive (RX) apertures are coupled (e.g., jointly controlled or moved),wherein a change to one aperture's orientation results in a similarchange to the other aperture's orientation. On the other hand, when theantenna assembly is operating in the second mode, the orientations ofthe transmit (TX) and receive (RX) apertures are separately andindependently controlled and/or positioned by the controller, whereinthe orientation of the transmit (TX) and receive (RX) apertures may bedifferent with respect to each other, the desired target-signal, and/orthe source of the desired target-signal. That is, during the second modeof operation of the antenna assembly, the position or orientation of thereceive (RX) aperture of the antenna assembly is separately andindependently controllable and its controlled movement or orientationdoes not affect the movement or orientation of the transmit (TX)aperture. Similarly, during the second mode of operation of the antennaassembly, the positioning or orientation of the transmit (TX) apertureof the antenna assembly is separately and independently controllable andits controlled movement does not affect the positioning or orientationof the receive (RX) aperture.

Each signal-quality characteristic of the desired target-signal may varyin unique ways, for example, in relation to the spatial relationshipamong the antenna assembly (e.g., transmit (TX) and/or receive (RX)apertures), the desired target-signal and/or source thereof, and/or asource(s) of signal interference. Because an interference source(s) maybe localized in space and offset by a fixed angular distance(s) from thedesired target-signal, a variation in the orientation of the antennaassembly (for example, the receive (RX) aperture) may correspondinglyresult in a unique variation in the interference signature and/or atleast of the signal-quality characteristics of the interferencesignature, e.g., RSS, SNR, S+N, (S+N)/N, SNIR, etc., associated witheach of the target-signals received at the various orientations of theantenna assembly.

Detecting and/or identifying the presence of signal interference may bedetermined based on measurements and/or analyses (e.g., calculation) ofthe signal-quality characteristics and/or the interference signature(s)associated with the desired target-signal received at one or moreorientations of the receive (RX) aperture of the antenna assembly. Forexample, the presence and/or identification of signal interference maybe determined based on: a comparison of the interference signature(s)(e.g., correlation of two or more signal-quality characteristics) at aparticular orientation to a threshold level; a comparison of theinterference signature(s) (e.g., correlation of two or moresignal-quality characteristics) at a particular orientation over aperiod of time; a comparison of the interference signature(s) (e.g.,correlation of two or more signal-quality characteristics) of differentorientations of the antenna assembly (e.g., receive (RX) aperture);and/or any combination thereof, and the like.

Upon detection or identification of the presence of signal interference,one or more actions may be initiated by communication personnel,equipment, and/or a facility to reduce the adverse effect of theinterference on the desired target-signal. One such action may includepositioning the antenna assembly to effect a desired change in thecorrelation of the interference signature(s), for example, as a resultof effecting a change to at least one of the signal-qualitycharacteristics of the desired target-signal received at the vehicle.The desired change in the correlation of the interference signature(s)and/or one or more signal-quality characteristics thereof is indicativeof a lessening in the signal interference affecting the desiredtarget-signal received at the antenna assembly of the mobile vehicle. Ifthe re-positioned orientation of the antenna assembly results in animprovement in the wireless communication, e.g., a reduction in thesignal interference, the orientation of the re-positioned antennaassembly may be identified, recorded, and/or set as the desiredorientation of the antenna assembly, which may then be maintainedthrough further operation of the antenna assembly until signalinterference is detected or identified, e.g., any of the signal qualitycharacteristics and/or the interference signature(s) exceed thethreshold level.

Another action to reduce the adverse effect of signal interference onthe desired target-signal may include automatically executing the secondmode of operation of the antenna assembly in response to detectingsignal interference. For example, the antenna assembly may be operatingin the first operating mode where the transmit (TX) and receive (RX)apertures are jointly positioned, aligned, oriented, etc., whereupon thedetection of signal interference, the operation of the antenna assemblymay be automatically changed to the second mode of operation where theposition, alignment, or orientation of the receive (RX) aperture isadjusted independently of the transmit (TX) aperture to effect a desiredchange in the correlation of the interference signature(s), for example,as a result of effecting a change to at least one of the signal-qualitycharacteristics of the desired target-signal received at the vehicle.The second operating mode of the antenna assembly allows for maintainingthe orientation or alignment of the transmit (TX) aperture with thetarget satellite, while simultaneously allowing independent positioningof the receive (RX) aperture to effect the desired change in thecorrelation of the interference signature(s). The desired change in thecorrelation of the interference signature(s) and/or one or moresignal-quality characteristics thereof is indicative of a lessening inthe signal interference affecting the desired target-signal at thereceive (RX) aperture of the antenna assembly of the mobile vehicle. Ifthe re-positioned orientation of the receive (RX) aperture results in animprovement in the wireless communication, e.g., a reduction in thesignal interference, the orientation of the re-positioned receive (RX)aperture may be identified, recorded, and/or set as the desiredorientation of the receive (RX) aperture, which may be maintainedthrough further operation of the antenna assembly until signalinterference is detected or identified, e.g., any of the signal qualitycharacteristics and/or the interference signature(s) exceed thethreshold level.

Additionally, and/or alternatively, the antenna assembly may be operatedin the second operation mode irrespective of the presence of signalinterference, wherein independent movement of the receive (RX) apertureis executed to monitor the signal environment to seek an orientation ofthe receive (RX) aperture associated with improved communication, e.g.,reception, of the desired target-signal. For example, during normaloperation of the antenna assembly, the receive (RX) aperture may bere-positioned, e.g., scanned, from an initial preferred orientation to aprospective orientation that may potentially result in an improvement inthe received target-signal at the prospective orientation in comparisonto the initial, e.g., preferred, orientation of the receive (RX)aperture. Such an improvement may be denoted as a desired change in theresult of the analysis of the correlation of the interferencesignature(s) (e.g., a change in one or more of the signal-qualitycharacteristics of the target-signal received at the mobile vehicle)associated with the prospective orientation of the receive (RX)aperture. If the prospective orientation of the receive (RX) apertureresults in an improvement in the wireless communication, e.g., areduction in the signal interference, the orientation of there-positioned receive (RX) aperture may be identified, recorded, and/orset as the preferred orientation and maintained through furtheroperation of the antenna assembly until signal interference is detected,e.g., any of the signal quality characteristics and/or the interferencesignature(s) exceed the threshold. If the re-positioned orientation ofthe receive (RX) aperture does not result in an improvement in thewireless communication, the prospective orientation of the re-positionedreceive (RX) aperture may be returned to its previous preferredorientation (prior to its repositioning) and maintained until scanningthe receive (RX) aperture to another prospective orientation(s) and/oruntil signal interference is detected, e.g., any of the signal qualitycharacteristics and/or the interference signature(s) exceed thethreshold level.

The scanning of the independent-controlled receive (RX) aperture to seekan orientation exhibiting an improvement in the reception of the desiredtarget-signal may include one or more prospective orientations, whereinthe analysis/analyses of the correlation(s) of the interferencesignature(s) and/or one or more of the at least two signal-qualitycharacteristics associated with the received target-signal may beexecuted at any point during or after the scan. That is, the preferredorientation of the receive (RX) aperture may be determined after anyanalysis of the correlation of the interference signature(s) and/or oneor more of the associated signal-quality characteristics of the scannedprospective orientations of the receive (RX) aperture, whereinpositioning of the receive (RX) aperture to the preferred orientation,if appropriate, may be executed thereafter. For example, the receive(RX) aperture may be repositioned to another prospective orientation tofacilitate attaining signal quality characteristics and/or anotherinterference signature(s) associated with the another prospectiveorientation of the receive (RX) aperture. To scan, the control systemmay move the receive (RX) aperture through several prospectiveorientations, e.g., a series, wherein correlations of signal-qualitycharacteristics and/or the interference signature(s) may be measuredand/or derived and associated with each prospective orientation in theseries, and/or as an accumulation of any portion of the prospectiveorientations in the series. Further re-positioning of the receive (RX)aperture to the preferred or different orientation prior to subsequentscanning of the receive (RX) aperture may be based on the analysis ofthe signal quality characteristics and/or interference signature(s) ofone or more of the scanned prospective orientations.

The scan of the signal environment by the receive (RX) aperture mayinclude a pattern, such as a geometric shape, e.g., triangle, square,circle, arc, line, pentagon, hexagon, etc., with respect to thepreferred orientation of the receive (RX) aperture, or the desiredtarget-signal. The scan may be executed in a continuous, periodic,and/or intermittent manner and performed in any order or sequence.Subsequent adjustment of the receive (RX) aperture's orientation to thepreferred orientation may be based on the acquired signal qualitycharacteristics and/or interference signature(s) attained, measured,derived, and or calculated for one or more of associated orientations ofthe scan.

In one embodiment, the controller and receive (RX) aperture of theantenna assembly may perform a circular (e.g., 0°-360°) or conical scanof the signal environment (e.g., various orientations of the receive(RX) aperture) proximate the desired target-signal and/or sourcethereof. Various scan parameters may be utilized, including, and notlimited to: satellite separation, beam-width, scan radius, baselinesignal-quality characteristic (e.g., SNR), and relative signal-qualitycharacteristic (e.g., equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP)).When little or no interference is present and the preferred (e.g.,existing) orientation of the receive (RX) aperture, e.g., center of thescan, coincides with the target signal, there may be little or novariation in the two or more attained signal-quality characteristics,e.g., RSS, SNR, S+N, (S+N)/N, SNIR, etc. throughout the scan. Forexample, FIG. 1A (RSS or RSSI) and FIG. 1B (SNR) respectively depict agraph of the signal-quality characteristics received via the receive(RX) aperture while scanned in a circular pattern (e.g., scan angle of0°-360°) proximate the target-signal and/or the source thereof. Becausethere is little or no signal interference present, there may be littleor no effect on these signal quality characteristics. That is, FIGS. 1Aand 1B respectively show the total power (RSS) level of 0 dB, and theSNR level of 10 dB remain essentially constant throughout the circularscan. However, as signal interference increases within the communicationenvironment (see FIGS. 2A and 2B, 3A and 3B, and 4A and 4B), thesesignal-quality characteristics change during the scan, and theircorrelation, e.g., interference signature, may change in comparison towhen little or no interference is present (e.g., FIGS. 1A and 1B). Thatis, as the presence of signal interference increases across FIGS. 2A and2B, 3A and 3B, and 4A and 4B, the signal-quality characteristics, i.e.,total power (RSS) and SNR, are affected, as well as their correlation,i.e., interference signature(s). For example, in FIG. 2A, the totalpower is essentially unchanged at 0 dB throughout the entire scan, andin FIG. 2B, the SNR remains constant at 10 dB between the scannedportion of 100°-250°, and tapers below 10 dB between the scanned portionof 250°-100°; in FIG. 3A, the total power remains unchanged at 0 dBbetween than scanned portion of 150°-200°, and slopes towardsapproximately 0.25 dB between than scanned portion of 200°-150°, and inFIG. 3B, the SNR remains essentially at 10 dB between the scannedportion of 150°-200°, and tapers towards approximately 8 dB between thescanned portion of 200°-150°; and in FIG. 4A, the total power remainsessentially unchanged at 0 dB between than scanned portion of 150°-200°,and slopes towards approximately 0.70 dB between than scanned portion of200°-150°, and in FIG. 4B, the SNR remains essentially at 10 dB betweenthe scanned portion of approximately 160°-200°, and tapers towardsapproximately 5.75 dB between the scanned portion of 200°-160°.

The simultaneous measurement and consideration of two or moresignal-quality characteristics (e.g., both RSS and SNR) providesadditional information that allows for an antenna orientation withimproved performance. For example, one or more of the generatedinterference signatures, which may be related to a 180° phase differencebetween two of the two or more attained signal-quality characteristics(e.g., RSS, SNR) may be used to trigger an alarm and/or to alert amonitoring facility in the event of deteriorating quality in thereceived target-signal and prompt a responsive action to adjust theorientation of the receive (RX) aperture of the antenna assemblyappropriately. In one example embodiment, one or more generatedinterference signatures may be used to trigger or automatically initiatethe second operating mode of the antenna assembly where the transmit(TX) and receive (RX) apertures are independently controlled andpositioned with respect to each other. Typically, the orientation orpositioning of the receive (RX) aperture is based solely on theorientation or positioning of the antenna assembly's transmit (TX)aperture. Decoupling the orientation or positioning of the receive (RX)aperture (with respect to the transmit (TX) aperture) based on thepresence of signal interference to separate or modulate the positioningof the transmit (TX) and receive (RX) apertures may improve the antennaassembly's responsiveness to signal interference, and hence channelcapacity, by allowing the receive (RX) aperture to migrate to a morefavorable position or orientation based on one or more interferencesignatures, while maintaining the transmit (TX) aperture orientationwith the target location based on the dead reckoning solution derivedfrom inertial sensor data, compass data, differential GPS, or some othersimilar method for determining terminal location and orientation.Triggering alarms or special modes of operation based on the presence ofsignal interference will improve channel capacity by minimizingdegradation to the cost basis, and improve robustness of servicedelivery and regulatory compliance by preventing or avoiding lessfavorable positioning (e.g., inadvertent transmission into restrictedspace) of the previously coupled transmit (TX) aperture wheninterference is present in the receive channel.

If only one signal-quality characteristic is utilized and considered(instead of attaining two signal-quality characteristics, e.g., RSS orRSSI, and SNR), the adjustment of the receive (RX) aperture of theantenna assembly may be orientated away from the desired signal in aneffort to benefit the cost function of the positioning technique, e.g.,of the sole signal-quality characteristic.

A flow diagram depicting an example method 500 according to one aspectof the present disclosure directed to reducing degradation of a wirelesscommunication transmitted to and/or from a vehicle is illustrated inFIG. 5, wherein two or more signal-quality characteristics of a desiredwireless target-signal are acquired (e.g., measure, derived) at blocks502 and 504. The desired target-signal is a wireless communicationwithin a signal environment transmitted from a single source, such as asatellite station, and received at a system that includes an antennaassembly attached to the vehicle. The system orientates the receive (RX)aperture of the antenna assembly about and/or towards the signal sourceand/or the target-signal, and monitors, measures, and/or calculates asignal-quality metric of the signal that is received via the one or moreorientated positions of the receive (RX) aperture. Positioning of thereceive (RX) aperture of the antenna across the plurality oforientations may be stepwise, incremental, continuous, periodic,automatic, etc. Each measured or derived signal-quality characteristicof the received target-signal of the one or more receive (RX) aperturepositions is indicative of signal quality, and may be of one or moretypes and combinations thereof, including, but not limited to: RSS(RSSI), SNR, S+N, (S+N)/N SNIR, and the like. The types of the first andsecond signal-quality characteristics are different, and each may have adifferent functional dependence on the combination of signal and noisereceived for a particular orientation or position of the antennaassembly, for example, the receive (RX) aperture of the antenna, whereinthe first characteristic is one signal-quality characteristic (e.g.,RSSI), and the second characteristic is another, different,signal-quality characteristic (e.g., SNR).

At block 506, the system may generate or calculate one or moreinterference signatures for the desired target-signal. The interferencesignature(s) is based on a correlation of the at least two of theattained (e.g., measure, calculated, derived) signal-qualitycharacteristics of the target-signal received at any of the orientationsof the receive (RX) aperture. The interference signature may further bebased on and/or associated with the orientation of the receive (RX)aperture when the target-signal was received at the antenna assembly,the time the target-signal was received, and/or any other informationrelating to signal data that is collected with respect to the signalsource and/or the target-signal, etc. Based on a change or degradationof the interference signature(s) associated with target-signal, thesystem reduces the effects of signal interference affecting the wirelesscommunication to the vehicle at block 508 by adjusting the orientationof the antenna assembly, i.e., receive (RX) aperture.

Alternatively, the signal environment or a portion thereof expected toencompass the target signal may be scanned or mapped by adjusting theposition of the receive (RX) aperture of the vehicle antenna about(e.g., slightly askew or offset of the preferred orientation) thedesired target signal and/or the communication source thereof (e.g.,satellite). In particular, control of the positioning the receive (RX)aperture is decoupled from control of the positioning of the transmit(TX) aperture. That is, the position of the receive (RX) aperture iscontrolled independent of the positioning of the transmit (TX) aperture.While the positioning of the transmit (TX) aperture is maintained, andmonitoring, measuring, and/or calculating signal quality metrics, e.g.,RSS, SNR, S+N, (S+N)/N, SNIR, etc.; of the signal that is received viathe antenna at one or more of the adjusted antenna positions. Anyadjustment to the position or orientation of the antenna may includesmall deviations, for example, stepwise (e.g., discrete), incremental,continuous, repetitive, periodic, and the like. Uncoupled control of thetransmit (TX) aperture may be accomplished by the one or more processorsexecuting dead-reckoning techniques and/or other navigationalcalculations to maintain the direction of the transmit (TX) aperturetoward the target source and ensure operative transmission to thedesired destination during movement of the mobile vehicle.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram illustrating an example method 600according to another aspect of the present disclosure directed toreducing degradation of a wireless communication transmitted to and/orfrom the mobile vehicle, wherein at block 602, the signal environmentthat contains, wholly or partially, the desired target-signal is scannedor mapped to detect and locate interference within the signalenvironment. The mapped or patterned signal environment may includeand/or be associated with a plurality of interference signatures,wherein one or more interference signatures may be associated with atleast one of a plurality of orientations among which at least a portionof the antenna assembly, e.g., the receive (RX) aperture, may bepositioned with respect to the signal source and/or the desiredtarget-signal. For example, the system may scan the signal environmentby varying the position or orientation of the receive (RX) aperturetowards the desired target-signal, the source thereof, and/or thepreferred orientation therewith. At block 604, the controller measuresand/or derives multiple signal-quality characteristics of the desiredtarget-signal for a variety of positions or orientations of the receive(RX) aperture of the antenna assembly. The positioning of the receive(RX) aperture may be in discrete or continuous movements. Upon attainingthe measured and/or derived signal-quality characteristics, the systemmay generate, at block 606, the interference signature(s) based on themeasurements of two or more signal-quality characteristic types. Thegenerated interference signature(s) may also include variouscombinations and weightings, e.g., proportions, of the measuredsignal-quality characteristic types. One or more of the measuredsignal-quality characteristics and/or the generated interferencesignatures may each be associated with a particular orientation of oneor both of the transmit (TX) and receive (RX) apertures of the antenna,segment or location of the signal environment, the signal source, thetarget-signal, etc. All data and information relating to or derived fromthe measured signal-quality characteristics, interference signatures,signal environment, signal source, antenna position(s), etc. may bestored in a memory device and accessible to the mobile vehicle (and/orother mobile vehicles) for use in positioning the receive (RX) apertureof the antenna assembly to reduce and/or avoid the degrading effects ofinterference on wireless communication during subsequent travel of thevehicle.

In some configurations, interference signatures may be constructed basedon the scanned interference data about the desired the-target signal.The scanned interference data and associated interference signature(s)may be used to facilitate detecting and/or identifying signalinterference and/or mitigating the effects of signal interferenceencountered or expected to be encountered during communication with themobile vehicle. Additional information may be gathered to aid inmeasuring and reducing the adverse effects of the interference on thetarget-signal. In particular, the orientation of the receive (RX)aperture of the antenna assembly with respect to the desiredtarget-signal may be adjusted based on the scanned interference data ofthe signal environment or a portion thereof to reduce degradation ofsignal service by interference within the signal environment. Forexample, the receive (RX) aperture may be positioned to avoid and/orreduce the effects of the interference upon the received target-signal.

FIG. 7 depicts an example communication system 700 incorporating one ormore aspects described above for facilitating wireless communication. Asatellite station 702 may be part of or associated with a communicationnetwork(s) 708 or constellations of communication satellite stationsmoving about the earth at various altitudes and speeds. Eachcommunication satellite station may include a deterministic path ororbit, for example, high earth orbit (HEO), geostationary earth orbit(GEO), medium earth orbit (MEO), and low earth orbit (LEO). Thesatellite station 702 is capable of relaying information between amobile communicator 704 mounted to a mobile vehicle 706 and thecommunication network 708, e.g., satellite station 702, ground station(not shown), and the like.

Communication among any of the components of the communication network708 may or may not include a proprietary network, a satellitesub-network, a secure public internet, a virtual private network, aground network/sub-network, a ground-based wireless network, or someother type of network, such as dedicated access lines, plain ordinarytelephone lines, satellite links, and combinations of these, etc. Wherethe communication network includes the internet, data communications maytake place over the network 708 via an internet communication protocol.

The example communication system 700 is configured to reduce degradationof a wireless communication transmitted to and/or from the vehicle 706by adjusting the orientation of an antenna 712 (e.g., an activeelectronically scanned array (AESA) antenna) mounted on the vehicle 706to detect, reduce, and/or avoid signal interference within one or moresignal environments, 770, 772, 774, that may adversely affect receptionof a target signal. While the mobile vehicle 706 is depicted anddescribed herein as an aircraft, it should be understood that thecommunication system 700 and phased array antenna 712 mounted on theaircraft 706 may instead be incorporated on another type of vehicle(e.g., a car, truck, train, and/or boat, any of which may be in motion),and the transmissions described herein may be between the other type ofvehicle and yet another network component (e.g., a satellite, and/or yetanother vehicle). Additionally or alternatively, the phased arrayantenna 712 may be mounted on a stationary entity (not shown, e.g.,ground station), and the communication transmissions described hereinmay be via a link between the stationary entity and yet another entity(e.g., a mobile vehicle such as the aircraft 706, one or moresatellites, and/or another ground station). In other words, while FIG. 7illustrates one embodiment, various other configurations andarrangements may be possible, as will be evident from this detaileddescription.

The phased array antenna 712 may include a transmitter or transmit (TX)aperture 714 and a receiver or receive (RX) aperture 716. Wirelesstransmission of a communication signal that includes information and/ordata may be sent from the aircraft 706 via the transmit (TX) aperture714, and wireless transmission that includes information and/or data maybe received at the aircraft 706 via the receive (RX) aperture 716 of thephased array antenna 712. Control of the pointing or positioning of thetransmit (TX) aperture 714 and/or receive (RX) aperture 716 may bedependent or independent of each other. That is, control of the transmit(TX) aperture 714 may or may not be related to the control, position,and/or orientation of the receive (RX) aperture 716, and vice versa.

In some embodiments, the communication link between the aircraft 706 andthe ground station (not shown) may be achieved in part via one or moresatellites or one or more other intermediaries. For example, atransmission from a ground station to the aircraft 706 may includetransmission from the ground station to the satellite 702, and thecontents of which may be subsequently transmitted from the satellite 702to the aircraft 706. Thus, in this example, the pointing of the receive(RX) aperture 716 may be a pointing at least generally in the directionof the source of the target signal, e.g., satellite 702. Accordingly, itshould be understood that, as described herein, a transmission betweenany first entity (or “origin”) and any second entity (or “end target”)may, in some embodiments, involve additional intermediaries, such as theone or more of the satellites, which may be situated or disposedcommunicatively between the terminal entities. Further, it should beunderstood that, in these embodiments, an orientation of either aperture714, 716 of the phased array antenna 712 may refer to a positioning atleast generally in the direction of the target satellite 702 or otherintermediary, with the received target signal reaching the end targetvia the intermediary.

Although one satellite station 702 is specifically designated in FIG. 7,it is to be understood that additional satellite stations may beutilized by the mobile communicator 704 to facilitate communication withthe communication network 708. In particular, the mobile communicator704 may maintain communication with the network 708 over an extendedperiod of time through a series of individual communication links withseparate target satellite stations and/or separate overlapping signalenvironments 770, 772, 774. For example, the mobile communicator 704 isadapted and configured to initiate, coordinate, execute, instruct,and/or participate in communication with the satellite station 702including one or more orientations of the TX aperture 714 and/or the RXaperture 716 of the antenna assembly 712. Additionally, the mobilecommunicator 704 may facilitate and support bi-directional communicationbetween the mobile vehicle 706 and the transmitting satellite 702, whichmay ultimately include a ground communication network(s), and end-usermobile communication devices (e.g., mobile phone, personal computer(laptop/tablet), wearable computing and/or communicating devices)operatively coupled to a local area network (LAN) and/or a wireless LAN(WLAN) 748 or other type of network configured aboard the aircraft 706.

The components of the mobile communicator 704 may include one or morecontrollers, antennas, analyzers, sensors, positioning modules, andmemory components for facilitating communication with the satellitestation 702. A controller 710 may be housed within a line-replaceableunit (LRU) 726 and affixed to the mobile vehicle 706. The antenna 712assembly, an analyzer 756 and/or sensor, a positioning module 718 (e.g.,global positioning unit (GPS)), and an external memory device 754 arecoupled to the controller 710 via an input/output (I/O) circuit 722 anda respective conduit 758. Although the I/O circuit 722 is shown in FIG.7 as a single block, it may include a variety of types of I/O circuits.The antenna 712 assembly, analyzer 756 and/or sensor, and/or portionsthereof, may be housed within a radome extending from the mobile vehicle708, wherein the antenna 724 may be positioned by the controller 710 forinteraction with the satellite stations and scanning the respectivesignal environments associated therewith.

The controller 710 may include one or more computing devices orprocessors 728 (e.g., microcontroller, microprocessor), a program memory730, one or more communication modems 732, 734, a random-access memory(RAM) 736, and a communication router module 738; all of which may beinterconnected via an address/data bus 740. The controller 710 mayinclude multiple program memories and RAMs, and that these programmemories and RAMs may be implemented as semiconductor memories,magnetically readable memories, and/or optically readable memories, forexample. The modems 732, 734 may be configured to modulate carrier wavesignals to be transmitted via the transmit (TX) aperture 714 of thephased array antenna 712. Transmissions and/or receptions of carrierwave signals may be accomplished via the phased array antenna 712attached, e.g., fixedly or removable mounted, on the top, bottom, orsome other portion of the aircraft 706, and/or some combination of thetype, portion, amount, and location of antenna assembly attached to theaircraft 706. It should be understood that the wireless communicationsdescribed herein may include transmissions of frequencies in the L, S,C, X, Ku, K, Ka, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 800 MHz, and/or any other suitablebands. In some embodiments, the vehicle may include multipletransceivers of different types and include the capability of wirelesscommunication with ground systems. One or more transceivers and theirrespective transmit (TX) and receive (RX) apertures may be locatedwithin one or more radomes positioned about the vehicle, e.g., front,rear, top, and/or bottom of the aircraft.

The program memory 730 and/or the RAM 736 may include a plurality ofsoftware applications 742, 752 a plurality of software routines 744, anda graphical user interface (GUI) module 746. The software applications742 and/or routines 744 may include instructions and steps that whenexecuted by the processor 728, such as a controller processor unit(ACPU) for an air-to-ground communication system, for example, cause themobile vehicle 706 to facilitate and support bi-directional end-userdevice 750 call/data/communication pathways from terminal and/orintermediary communication components of the communication network 708to/from the end-user mobile devices 750. That is, the processor 728 iscommunicably coupled via a conduit 760 to the LAN/WLAN 748 andconfigured to enable the mobile communication device 750 of an end user,e.g., passenger aboard the mobile vehicle 706, to communicate with thenetwork 708 via the communication link 702. In particular, the processor728 and communication router module 738 may cooperate to coordinate calltraffic routing and subscriber management, including a conversionbetween digital modem traffic from the antenna 712 and Wi-Fi trafficfrom the end-user mobile device(s) 750 operatively coupled to theLAN/WLAN 748. End-user specific information that may be used by theprocessor 728 and/or communication router module 738 while coordinatingcall traffic, etc., may include account information, billinginformation, and media content, any of which may be stored in one ormore of the memory devices able to be accessed by the processor 728.

The software applications 742 and/or routines 744 also includeinstructions and steps that when executed by the processor 728 cause themobile communicator 704 to determine interference signatures based onlocations of interference within the signal environment as depicted inthe methods described herein. For example, the software applications 742or routines 744 may include a communicator controller application orroutine having a set of instructions that when executed by the processor728 cause the controller 710 to carry out various applications andfunctions associated with detecting and/or measuring signal qualitycharacteristics associated with the signal source and/or the desiredsignal within the signal environment, generating the interferencesignature(s) based on preferably at least two of the measured signalquality characteristics, and utilizing the generated interferencesignature(s) to position the antenna, e.g., receive (RX) aperture 716,to reduce the degrading effects of the interference on the receiveddesired communication signal. Further, execution of the communicatorcontroller application by the processor 728 may initiate, coordinate,execute, or instruct one or more steps for reducing interferencedegrading wireless communication with the vehicle by moving the receive(RX) aperture 716 with respect to the signal source satellite of thetransmitted desired signal and detecting, and/or measuring signalquality characteristics, e.g., RSS (RSSI), SNR, S+N, (S+N)/N, SNIR,etc., about the signal source and/or the target signal, and generatingand/or storing interference signatures based on the signal qualitycharacteristics for later use to reduce the degrading effects of theinterference on the desired signal by offsetting the position of thereceive (RX) aperture 716 with respect to the signal source and/ortarget signal and improve wireless communication between the signalsource and the vehicle 706.

As the vehicle 706 travels, it is expected that the effects of thesignal interference within the signal environment may change due to thespatial relationship between the vehicle 706, signal source, and thetype and location of the source(s) of interference. The controller 710attains the signal quality characteristics (e.g., RSS (RSSI), SNR, S+N,(S+N)/N, SNIR, etc.) associated with various positions of the RXaperture 716 and may store the interference data on the memory device,e.g., RAM 736, of the mobile communicator 704. The interference data,e.g., measured and/or detected signal quality characteristics, may alsobe stored on the external memory device 754 operatively coupled to thecontroller 710 and/or transmitted to the controller 710 in response to arequest sent from the controller 710. Additionally, the interferencedata may be stored in any location, e.g., ground network, and accessibleto any vehicle for use in positioning its antenna to reduce and/or avoidthe degrading effects of interference on wireless communication duringsubsequent travel of the vehicle.

Because the route traveled by vehicle 706 is known or is capable ofbeing readily determined via dead reckoning, e.g., location, velocity,direction; and the locations or travel paths of the signal source, e.g.,satellite station 702 is known or can be attained through the one ormore satellite network maps, the controller 710 may determine,calculate, forecast, and/or predict the location of interference withinthe signal environment with respect to the position of the vehicle 706when communication signals are received at the receive (RX) aperture716. The determination of the interference within the signal environmentmay be based in part on one or more considerations or combinationsthereof, such as: the type of satellite station, the location of thesatellite station, the distance of the satellite station from thevehicle 706, and the amount and particularity of time the signal sourceand/or interference source(s) is expected to be within communicationrange of the vehicle 706, for example. The mobile communicator 704 mayuse travelling characteristics of the vehicle 706 and the prospectivesignal sources of the satellite network maps to calculate or determinelocations of interference within the prospective signal environment.

Upon identifying, attaining, measuring, calculating, and/or receivingone or more interferences within the signal environment, the controller710 may construct interference signatures related thereto for use inreducing and/or avoiding the effect of the interference on thecommunication signal received from the signal source. For example, theprocessor 728 and/or analyzer 718 of the controller 710 may generatesone or more interference signatures based on the detected and/ormeasured signal quality characteristics associated with a signal sourceand determine different orientations of the receive (RX) aperture 716wherein the received target signal is less affected by the signalinterference within the signal environment. As the signal interferenceexpected to be encountered within the signal environment changes duringtravel of the vehicle, the position of the receive (RX) aperture 716with respect to the transmitting satellite may be adjusted and/or offsetto reduce the effects of interference degrading the communicationsignal. In short, the processor controller 710 may initiate, coordinate,execute, or instruct the timely positioning of the receive (RX) aperture716 based on one or more interference signatures derived from thedetected and/or measured signal quality characteristics associated withthe signal source for adjustment of the orientation of the receivingantenna 712 to limit and/or avoid the detrimental effects of signalinterference within the signal environment.

The signal quality characteristic(s) and/or interference signature(s)may be a reliable indicator of accurate or inaccurate orientation of thereceive (RX) aperture 716 of the phased array antenna 712. For example,an offset of the orientation of the receive (RX) aperture 716 may inducean increase and/or decrease in the signal and/or noise level to due tothe effect on two or more signal quality characteristics of the targetsignal received via the RX aperture 716. Consequently, when the offsetof the receive (RX) aperture 716 is adjusted, a reduction in theinterference of the desired signal may be observed. Such adjustments orchanges in the orientation of the receive (RX) aperture 716 may bemonitored at the modems 732, 734, via a controller 710 communicativelyconnected to the modems 732, 734. The interference signature(s) may beassociated with operation of the modems 732, 734, and the controller 710may include one or more processors 728 and one or more computer memoriesstoring computer-executable instructions thereon, that when executed viathe one or more processors 728, cause the controller 710 and/or modems732, 734 to perform actions of the system 700 related to reducinginterference in wireless communication with the mobile vehicle asdescribed herein.

At some point after adjusting the receive (RX) aperture 716 to improvewireless communication, the controller 710 may determine that theinterference affecting the desired target signal has exceeded apredetermined threshold, and/or an adjustment of the orientation of theRX aperture is warranted. For example, an alarm or an alert tocommunication personnel, equipment, and/or a facility capable ofmonitoring and reducing the adverse effects of the interference on thedesired target signal may be triggered by the exceeded threshold. Inresponse thereto, the controller 710 may utilize the interferencesignatures to reposition the receive (RX) aperture 716 accordingly asdescribed herein.

In other possible embodiments, at least one of the above-described meansof positioning the receive (RX) aperture 716 may be utilized inpositioning the transmit (TX) aperture 714. For example, the controller710 may adjust the pointing of the transmit (TX) aperture 714 based onthe monitored/measured interference effects of a signal transmitted fromthe vehicle 706. In still other possible embodiments, the controller 710may implement within a control loop any of the means described hereinfor adjustment of the orientation of the transmit (TX) and receive (RX)aperture 714, 716. For example, a first control loop may includemonitoring the position of the receive (RX) aperture 716 with respect tointerference within the signal environment and adjusting the pointing ofthe receive (RX) aperture 716 accordingly, based on the generatedinterference signatures. A second control loop may include monitoringcommunication with respect to signals transmitted from the vehicle, andadjusting the pointing of the transmit (TX) aperture 714 with respect toa communication device, e.g., satellite, accordingly. Using the abovedescribed techniques, either aperture 714, 716 may be pointedindependently of the other aperture. The independent pointing may be amutually independent pointing of the TX aperture 714 and the receive(RX) aperture 716 (i.e., transmit (TX) aperture 714 orientation does notaffect receive (RX) aperture 716 orientation, and receive (RX) aperture716 orientation does not affect transmit (TX) aperture 714 orientation).As a result of independent (e.g., mutually independent) positioning ofthe TX aperture 714 with respect to the positioning of the receive (RX)aperture 716, any problems, errors, or inaccuracies in positioning ofthe receive (RX) aperture 716 may avoid transfer to the positioning ofthe transmit (TX) aperture 714, and vice versa.

From the description above, it is readily apparent that the presentdisclosure incorporates methods and systems by which the orientation ofa receive (RX) aperture of a phased array antenna may be controlled toreduce and/or avoid the degrading effect of signal interference on awireless signal communication within a signal environment. For example,the system generates the one or more metrics via a controller (e.g., oneor more processors, microprocessors) that relate to the signal qualityof the received target-signal as a function of the one or moreinstantaneous orientations of the receive (RX) aperture of the antennaassembly. Multiple types of signal-quality characteristics (e.g., RSS,SNR, S+N, (S+N)/N, SNIR, etc.) associated with the desired target-signalmay be monitored, acquired, measured, and/or derived and used togenerate an interference signature based on two or more of the signalquality characteristics, wherein the system may then utilize one or moreof the interference signatures to accordingly position the antenna andimprove the wireless communication. Scanning or mapping the signalenvironment by varying the orientation of the receive (RX) aperture ofthe antenna assembly allows for the gathering and/or determining of thesignal-quality metrics for one or more orientations of the antennaassembly, wherein the system may generate one or more associatedinterference signatures based on a correlation of two or moresignal-quality characteristics. In this way, an interference source(s)and/or the effects thereof within the signal environment may belocalized in space, for example, offset by a fixed angular distance fromthe received target signal. As such, unique variations in the signalquality metrics may correspond to specific, unique variations in theorientation of the receive (RX) aperture of the antenna assembly withrespect to the target-signal. Detected changes and/or degradations inthe correlation or the interference signature(s) (e.g., two or moresignal-quality characteristics) enable identification of signalinterference as well as initiate efforts to mitigate the degradingeffects of the interference on the received target-signal. For example,using the interference signatures, the receive (RX) aperture may bepointed or positioned (independently of the transmit (TX) aperture) toreduce and/or avoid the degrading effects of interference on the targetsignal.

Unless specifically indicated otherwise, the words “a” and “an” inreference to components of the system are used simply for ease ofdescription, and are not intended to be limiting. In other words, wherea component or an entity is described, one or more components and/or oneor more entities may be possible. For example, it is understood that, insome embodiments, the vehicle may be outfitted with one or more phasedarray antennas. Further, during travel, the vehicle may establish ormaintain one or more communications links with one or more signalsources (e.g., a handoff process between satellites) and/or one or moreground stations via one or more respective phased transmit antennaarrays. Furthermore, transmission of any single communication mayinvolve additional components (e.g., additional relay stations and/orsatellites) not illustrated. Of course, any number of any of thetechniques, principles, features, and/or concepts discussed herein applyequally to an attached phased array antenna utilized for satellite orother air-to-air communications, or to a phased array antenna that isutilized for direct air-to-ground communications.

Additional Considerations

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Additionally, certain embodiments are described herein as includinglogic or a number of routines, subroutines, applications, orinstructions. These may constitute either software (e.g., code embodiedon a non-transitory, machine-readable medium) or hardware. In hardware,the routines, etc., are tangible units capable of performing certainoperations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. Inexample embodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone,client or server computer system) or one or more hardware modules of acomputer system (e.g., a processor or a group of processors) may beconfigured by software (e.g., an application or application portion) asa hardware module that operates to perform certain operations asdescribed herein.

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine,but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments,the one or more processors or processor-implemented modules may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the one or more processors or processor-implemented modulesmay be distributed across a number of geographic locations.

Similarly, the methods or routines described herein may be at leastpartially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of theoperations of a method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented hardware modules. The performance of certain ofthe operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment, or as a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment may be included in at leastone embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment.

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the description. Thisdescription, and the claims that follow, should be read to include oneor at least one and the singular also may include the plural unless itis obvious that it is meant otherwise.

While pointing of a receiver aperture of a phased array antenna isdescribed herein, it should be appreciated that the concepts describedherein may be applied to other types of antennas, unless indicatedotherwise. For example, in some embodiments, the phased array antennamay instead be a single antenna without a phased array. Further, whilethe phased array antenna described herein is generally described asbeing mounted on an aircraft, it should be appreciated that the phasedarray antenna may additionally or alternatively be mounted on anothertype of vehicle (e.g., a car, truck, train, or boat), or mounted on someother system (e.g., a ground station).

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “pointing,” “aiming,” “directing,” in reference to a transmit(TX) and/or a receive (RX) aperture of a phased array antenna or anotherantenna may refer to the directing of the antenna aperture (or“opening”). Hence, a “pointing,” “aiming,” or “directing,” of thetransmit antenna aperture may refer to a direction that signals are tobe transmitted via the transmit antenna aperture or opening. A“pointing,” “aiming,” or “directing,” of the receive antenna aperturemay refer to a direction via which the receive antenna aperture oropening is exposed to receive signals from, for example, a satelliteand/or a ground station. Further, a pointing, aiming, or directing of anantenna aperture may refer to a pointing of the antenna aperture atleast generally toward another entity (e.g., a transmit antenna aperturemay “lead” a target of a transmitted signal, given a known or estimatedsignal travel time).

While the transmit and receive antenna apertures herein are generallydescribed as being communicatively connected to a same modem, it shouldbe understood that, in some embodiments, the transmit antenna apertureand the receive antenna aperture may be communicatively connected toseparate modems. Further, in some embodiments, one or more modems may befixedly and/or communicatively connected to an entity (e.g., a vehiclesuch as an aircraft in transit or another vehicle in transit, a groundstation, etc.), and/or the entity may include more than one transmitaperture and/or receive aperture. For example, a vehicle such as anaircraft may include a first transmit aperture to transmit modulatedcarrier wave signals to a satellite, and a second transmit aperture totransmit modulated carrier wave signals to a ground station. As anotherexample, a vehicle such as an aircraft may include a first receiveaperture to receive signals via a satellite, and a second transmitaperture to receive signals via a ground station.

In some embodiments, a ground station may include or be communicativelyconnected to a teleport antenna and/or a modem platform hub. Further, insome embodiments, an entity (e.g., an airplane) to which an antenna(e.g., an AESA antenna) is mounted and/or communicatively connected mayinclude and/or be communicatively connected (directly or indirectly) toa KRFU, a KANDU, and/or a MODMAN.

It should be understood that, unless a term is expressly defined in thispatent using the sentence, “As used herein, the term ‘_’ is herebydefined to mean . . . ,” or a similar sentence, there is no intent tolimit the meaning of that term, either expressly or by implication,beyond its plain or ordinary meaning, and such term should not beinterpreted to be limited in scope based on any statement made in anysection of this patent (other than the language of the claims). To theextent that any term recited in the claims at the end of this disclosureis referred to in this disclosure in a manner consistent with a singlemeaning, that is done for sake of clarity only so as to not confuse thereader, and it is not intended that such claim term be limited, byimplication or otherwise, to that single meaning. Also, unless a claimelement is defined by reciting the word “means” and a function withoutthe recital of any structure, it is not intended that the scope of anyclaim element be interpreted based on the application of 35 U.S.C. §112(f).

Although the above detailed description sets forth numerous embodiments,it should be understood that the legal scope of the invention is definedby the words of the claims at the end of this patent. The detaileddescription is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describeevery possible embodiment, as describing every possible embodiment wouldbe impractical, if not impossible. One could implement numerousalternate embodiments, using either current technology or technologydeveloped after the filing date of this patent, which would still fallwithin the scope of the claims. By way of example, and not limitation,the disclosure herein contemplates at least the following aspects:

Aspect 1: A method of reducing degradation of wireless communicationwith a mobile vehicle, the method comprising: receiving, via an antennaassembly including a preferred orientation and coupled to the mobilevehicle, a wireless target-signal; attaining, via one or more processorscoupled to antenna assembly, a first type of signal-qualitycharacteristic of the received wireless target-signal, the first type ofsignal-quality characteristic being indicative of a signal quality;attaining, via the one or more processors, a second type ofsignal-quality characteristic of the received wireless target-signal,the second type of signal-quality characteristic being indicative of asignal quality, wherein the first and second types of signal-qualitycharacteristics are different types of signal-quality characteristicsand each having a different functional dependence on a combination ofsignal and noise associated with the received wireless target-signal;generating, via the one or more processors, an interference signatureassociated with the received wireless target-signal and the preferredorientation of the antenna assembly, the interference signatureincluding a correlation of the attained first signal-qualitycharacteristic and the second signal-quality characteristic; analyzing,via the one or more processors, the generated interference signature todetermine a change or degradation in the correlation of the first andsecond signal-quality characteristics; and adjusting, via the one ormore processors, the preferred orientation of the antenna assembly toanother orientation based on the analysis of the interference signature,thereby reducing degradation of the wireless target-signal received atthe mobile vehicle.

Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, wherein the antenna assembly includesa receive (RX) aperture and a transmit (TX) aperture, the method furthercomprising: initiating, via the one or more processors, a mode ofoperation of the antenna assembly based on the analysis of theinterference signature, wherein the orientation of the receive (RX)aperture is controlled independently of the transmit (TX) aperture; andthe adjusting the preferred orientation of the antenna assembly includesindependently adjusting the receive (RX) aperture to another orientationwithout affecting the transmit (TX) aperture.

Aspect 3. The method of any one of aspects 1-2, wherein the firstsignal-quality characteristic type is a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), andthe second signal-quality characteristic type is a received signalstrength (RSS).

Aspect 4. The method of any one of aspects 1-3, wherein the first andsecond signal-quality characteristic types are one of a signal-to-noiseratio (SNR), a received signal strength (RSS), asignal-plus-noise-to-noise ratio ((S+N)/N), or asignal-to-interference-noise ratio (SNIR).

Aspect 5. A method of reducing degradation of wireless communicationwith a mobile vehicle, the method comprising: scanning, via an antennaassembly including a preferred orientation and coupled to the mobilevehicle, the antenna assembly through a plurality of orientations;receiving, via one or more processors coupled to the antenna assembly, awireless target-signal at each of the plurality of orientations;attaining, via one or more processors, a first type of signal-qualitycharacteristic of the received wireless target-signal at each of thescanned orientations, the first type of signal-quality characteristicbeing indicative of a signal quality; attaining, via the one or moreprocessors, a second type of signal-quality characteristic of thereceived wireless target-signal at each of the scanned orientations, thesecond type of signal-quality characteristic being indicative of asignal quality, wherein the first and second types of signal-qualitycharacteristics are different types of signal-quality characteristicsand each having a different functional dependence on a combination ofsignal and noise associated with the received wireless target-signal;generating, via the one or more processors, an interference signatureassociated with the received wireless target-signal for each of thescanned orientations of the antenna assembly, each interferencesignature including a correlation of the attained first signal-qualitycharacteristic and the second signal-quality characteristic; analyzing,via the one or more processors, the generated interference signature ofeach scanned orientation of the antenna assembly to determine a changeor degradation in the correlation of the interference signature; andadjusting, via the one or more processors, the preferred orientation ofthe antenna assembly to another orientation based on the analysis of theinterference signatures, thereby reducing degradation of the wirelesstarget-signal received at the mobile vehicle.

Aspect 6. The method of aspect 5, wherein the antenna assembly includesa receive (RX) aperture and a transmit (TX) aperture, the method furthercomprising: initiating, via the one or more processors, a mode ofoperation of the antenna assembly wherein the orientation of the receive(RX) aperture is controlled independently of the transmit (TX) aperture;and the scanning the antenna assembly through a plurality oforientations includes independently adjusting the receive (RX) apertureto each of the plurality of orientations without affecting the transmit(TX) aperture.

Aspect 7. The method of any of aspects 5-6, wherein the scanning theantenna assembly includes a sequence, pattern, or geometric shape.

Aspect 8. The method of aspect 7, wherein the geometric shape includes atriangle, square, circle, arc, line, pentagon, and/or hexagon.

Aspect 9. The method of any of aspects 5-8, wherein the firstsignal-quality characteristic type is a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), andthe second signal-quality characteristic type is a received signalstrength (RSS).

Aspect 10. The method of any of aspects 5-9, wherein the first andsecond signal-quality characteristic types are one of a signal-to-noiseratio (SNR), a received signal strength (RSS), asignal-plus-noise-to-noise ratio ((S+N)/N), or asignal-to-interference-noise ratio (SNIR).

Aspect 11. A system of reducing degradation of wireless communicationwith a mobile vehicle, the system comprising: one or more processorscoupled to the mobile vehicle; a memory coupled to the one or moreprocessors; an antenna assembly coupled to the one or more processorsand attached to the mobile vehicle, the antenna assembly including apreferred orientation, a receive (RX) aperture, and a transmit (TX)aperture; and a set of instructions stored on the memory, which whenexecuted by the one or more processors; causes the system to: scan theantenna assembly through at least one of orientation of the antennaassembly; receive a wireless target-signal at each of the scannedorientations of the antenna assembly; attain a first type ofsignal-quality characteristic of the received wireless target-signal ateach of the scanned orientations, the first type of signal-qualitycharacteristic being indicative of a signal quality; attain a secondtype of signal-quality characteristic of the received wirelesstarget-signal at each of the scanned orientations, the second type ofsignal-quality characteristic being indicative of a signal quality,wherein the first and second types of signal-quality characteristics aredifferent types of signal-quality characteristics and each having adifferent functional dependence on a combination of signal and noiseassociated with the received wireless target-signal; generate aninterference signature associated with the received wirelesstarget-signal for at least one of the scanned orientations of theantenna assembly, each interference signature including a correlation ofthe attained first signal-quality characteristic and the secondsignal-quality characteristic; analyze the generated interferencesignature for at least one of the scanned orientation of the antennaassembly to determine a change or degradation in the correlation of theinterference signature; and adjust the preferred orientation of theantenna assembly to another orientation based on the analysis of theinterference signatures, thereby reducing degradation of the wirelesstarget-signal received at the mobile vehicle.

Aspect 12. The system of aspect 11, wherein the set of instructionsfurther comprising: initiate a mode of operation of the antenna assemblywherein the orientation of the receive (RX) aperture is controlledindependently of the transmit (TX) aperture; and wherein the scan theantenna assembly through at least one orientation includes independentlyadjusting the receive (RX) aperture to each of the at least oneorientation without affecting the transmit (TX) aperture.

Aspect 13. The system of any one of aspects 11-12, wherein the scan theantenna assembly includes a sequence, pattern, or geometric shape.

Aspect 14. The system of aspect 13, wherein the geometric shape includesa triangle, square, circle, arc, line, pentagon, and/or hexagon.

Aspect 15. The system of any one of aspects 11-14, wherein the firstsignal-quality characteristic type is a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), andthe second signal-quality characteristic type is received signalstrength (RSS).

Aspect 16. The system of any one of aspects 11-15, wherein the first andsecond signal-quality characteristic types are one of a signal-to-noiseratio (SNR), a received signal strength (RSS), asignal-plus-noise-to-noise ratio ((S+N)/N), or asignal-to-interference-noise ratio (SNIR).

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of reducing degradation in wirelesscommunication during normal operation of a communication systemincluding a signal source and a mobile vehicle having a coupled antennaassembly, the method comprising: adjusting, via the one or moreprocessors, a receive (RX) aperture of the antenna assembly to aparticular orientation with respect to the signal source based on aninterference signature associated with a wireless target-signalgenerated by the signal source and received at the antenna assembly, theinterference signature including a correlation of an attained firstsignal-quality characteristic of the received wireless target-signal andan attained second signal-quality characteristic of the receivedwireless target-signal, and the first and second signal-qualitycharacteristics being different types of signal-quality characteristicsand having different functional dependencies on a combination of signaland noise associated with the received wireless target-signal.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the attained first signal-qualitycharacteristic is one of: a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), a receivedsignal strength (RSS), a signal-plus-noise-to-noise ratio ((S+N)/N), ora signal-to-interference-noise ratio (SNIR), and the attained secondsignal-quality characteristic is another one of the SNR, the RSS, the(S+N)/N, or the SNIR.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprisingidentifying signal interference based on the interference signaturewhile the RX aperture of the antenna assembly is at a first orientationdifferent from the particular orientation; and wherein adjusting the RXaperture of the antenna assembly to the particular orientation isresponsive to the identified signal interference.
 4. The method of claim3, wherein identifying the signal interference based on the interferencesignature includes identifying the signal interference based on one ormore of: a change to or degradation of the correlation of the attainedfirst signal-quality characteristic and the attained secondsignal-quality characteristic associated with the first orientation ofthe RX aperture of the antenna assembly with respect to a thresholdlevel; a change to or degradation of the correlation of the attainedfirst signal-quality characteristic and the attained secondsignal-quality characteristic associated with the first orientation ofRX aperture of the antenna assembly over a period of time; or acomparison of respective correlations of the attained firstsignal-quality characteristic and the second signal-qualitycharacteristic associated with different orientations of the RX apertureof the antenna assembly.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising atleast one of: attaining the first signal-quality characteristic of thereceived wireless target-signal or attaining the second signal-qualitycharacteristic of the received wireless target-signal.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein at least one of: attaining the first signal-qualitycharacteristic of the received wireless target-signal comprisesattaining the first signal-quality characteristic of the receivedwireless target-signal at each orientation of a plurality of scannedorientations of the antenna assembly, the plurality of scannedorientations directed toward a signal environment including the signalsource; or attaining the second signal-quality characteristic of thereceived wireless target-signal comprises attaining the secondsignal-quality characteristic of the received wireless target-signal ateach orientation of the plurality of scanned orientations.
 7. The methodof claim 1, further comprising generating the interference signaturebased on different weightings of the attained first signal-qualitycharacteristic and the attained second signal-quality characteristic. 8.The method of claim 7, further comprising at least one of: storing theinterference signature in a memory accessible to the mobile vehicle, orinserting the interference signature into a satellite network map. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the RX aperture of the antennaassembly to the particular orientation with respect to the signal sourcecomprises adjusting the RX aperture of the antenna assembly to theparticular orientation with respect to the signal source while theantenna assembly is operating in a mode of operation in which theorientation of the RX aperture of the antenna assembly is controlledindependently of an orientation of a transmit (TX) aperture of theantenna assembly.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising, inconjunction with the adjusting of the RX aperture to the particularorientation, initiating a mode of operation of the antenna assembly inwhich the orientation of the RX aperture of the antenna assembly iscontrolled independently of an orientation of a transmit (TX) apertureof the antenna assembly.
 11. A system for reducing degradation inwireless communication during normal operation of a communication systemincluding a signal source and a mobile vehicle, the system comprising:one or more processors coupled to the mobile vehicle; one or morememories coupled to the one or more processors; an antenna assemblycoupled to the one or more processors and attached to the mobilevehicle, the antenna assembly including a receive (RX) aperture and atransmit (TX) aperture; and a set of computer-executable instructionsstored on the one or more memories which, when executed by the one ormore processors, causes the system to: adjust the receive (RX) apertureof the antenna assembly to a particular orientation with respect to thesignal source based on an interference signature associated with awireless target-signal generated by the signal source and received atthe antenna assembly, the interference signature including a correlationof an attained first signal-quality characteristic of the receivedwireless target-signal and an attained second signal-qualitycharacteristic of the received wireless target-signal, and the first andsecond signal-quality characteristics being different types ofsignal-quality characteristics and having different functionaldependencies on a combination of signal and noise associated with thereceived wireless target-signal.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein theattained first signal-quality characteristic is one of: asignal-to-noise ratio (SNR), a received signal strength (RSS), asignal-plus-noise-to-noise ratio ((S+N)/N), or asignal-to-interference-noise ratio (SNIR), and the attained secondsignal-quality characteristic is another one of the SNR, the RSS, the(S+N)/N, or the SNIR.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein: the set ofcomputer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, causes the system further to identify signal interferencebased on the interference signature while the RX aperture of the antennaassembly is at a first orientation different from the particularorientation; and the adjustment of the RX aperture of the antennaassembly to the particular orientation is responsive to the identifiedsignal interference.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the systemidentifies the signal interference based on one or more of: a change toor degradation of the correlation of the attained first signal-qualitycharacteristic and the attained second signal-quality characteristicassociated with the first orientation of the RX aperture of the antennaassembly with respect to a threshold level; a change to or degradationof the correlation of the attained first signal-quality characteristicand the attained second signal-quality characteristic associated withthe first orientation of RX aperture of the antenna assembly over aperiod of time; or a comparison of respective correlations of theattained first signal-quality characteristic and the secondsignal-quality characteristic associated with different orientations ofthe RX aperture of the antenna assembly.
 15. The system of claim 11,wherein the set of computer-executable instructions, when executed bythe one or more processors, causes the system further to at least oneof: attain the first signal-quality characteristic of the receivedwireless target-signal or attain the second signal-qualitycharacteristic of the received wireless target-signal.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, wherein at least one of: the system attains the firstsignal-quality characteristic of the received wireless target-signal ateach orientation of a plurality of scanned orientations of the antennaassembly, the plurality of scanned orientations directed toward a signalenvironment including the signal source; or the system attains thesecond signal-quality characteristic of the received wirelesstarget-signal at each orientation of the plurality of scannedorientations.
 17. The system of claim 11, wherein the set ofcomputer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, causes the system further to generate the interferencesignature based on different weightings of the attained firstsignal-quality characteristic and the attained second signal-qualitycharacteristic.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the set ofcomputer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, causes the system further to at least one of: store thegenerated interference signature in a memory accessible to the mobilevehicle, or insert the generated interference signature into a satellitenetwork map.
 19. The system of claim 11, wherein the system adjusts theRX aperture of the antenna assembly to the particular orientation whilethe antenna assembly is operating in a mode of operation in which theorientation of the RX aperture of the antenna assembly is controlledindependently of an orientation of a transmit (TX) aperture of theantenna assembly.
 20. The system of claim 11, wherein the set ofcomputer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, causes the system further to initiate, based on theadjustment of the RX aperture to the particular orientation, a mode ofoperation of the antenna assembly in which the orientation of the RXaperture of the antenna assembly is controlled independently of anorientation of a transmit (TX) aperture of the antenna assembly.